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Aviation vocabulary · Air Traffic Control & Radiotelephony

Call sign

Meaning in aviation, with examples

nounCore term

In aviation, call sign means: The name and number that identify an aircraft on the radio, such as the airline's radio name plus a flight number. It is used in every transmission.

In Turkish: çağrı işareti, çağrı adı

How it is used

Airline call signs are not always the company name. Private aircraft use their registration, spelled with the phonetic alphabet. Pilots end readbacks with their call sign, and controllers warn about similar call signs on the same frequency.

Example sentences

  1. Fastair 345, check your call sign; that instruction was for Fastair 354.

  2. Our call sign today is different from the flight number on the passengers' tickets.

Common collocations

  • similar call signs
  • full call sign
  • call sign confusion
  • abbreviated call sign
  • phonetic alphabetThe standard set of code words used on the radio for the letters of the alphabet, such as Alfa for A, Bravo for B and Charlie for C.
  • readbackRepeating an ATC clearance or instruction back to the controller, so that the controller can confirm it was heard and understood correctly.
  • frequencyThe radio channel, given as a number in megahertz, that pilots and a particular ATC unit use to talk to each other.
  • air traffic controlThe service that guides aircraft on the ground and in the air to keep them safely apart and moving in an orderly way. Controllers give instructions and clearances by radio.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Air Traffic Control & Radiotelephony

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